Truck hit while parked, what would you do?

Truck was hit while parked/unoccupied, person that hit my truck left the scene, incident was witnessed and police were called, collision report filed, person who hit my truck came back to the scene about 1/2 hr later. Estimate of $1212 in damages to my truck. They initially wanted to pay for the repairs themselves, then changed their mind and wanted to go through insurance when I mentioned I need a rental car and then changed their mind another time and now wants to pay for it themselves. My insurance company advised me I should just probably let our insurance companies deal with it to minimize any risk to me. What would you do?

 

100% let insurance deal with it. That way you know for sure it's gonna be paid for.

 

x10000 dont trust anyone, bad enough they left the scene.

 

If you are doing the repairs yourself, it may be more attractive to take the cash. For all other options, I would use the insurance. If more damage is discovered in the course of (or after) the repair, the insurance will cover it.

Mike

 

Insurance for sure. I wouldn't let them off easy since they left.

 

I would say insurance x10000000 except for 1 drawback.

If you let insurance handle it, they will report it to carfax and your $1200 worth of damage fixed will end up costing you $3,000 depreciation on the carfax if you decide to sell or trade in your truck, but if you plan on keeping it then definitely use insurance.

 

Depends on the damage. If it was damage that was purely cosmetic, I'd take the $1200 and buy some upgrades for the truck. If its damage that's going to rust, cause drivability issues, etc. I would go through insurance then you get a rental, know the work is done right, and you won't get screwed.

 

In this state, if you're not at fault, you will be paid loss of value too.... check your state's insurance laws.

 

Since you aren't me, I'll give my advice anyway. Depending on the damage, let them give you cash, spend it on mods or put it on the principal. If they can't come up with at least 70% of the money on the spot, go with insurance, that's why you have it.

 

Agree. OP, got any pics of the damage?

 

I should read before I post

 

FWIW- I watched a guy let go of a shopping cart and it ran right into the car I had at the time. The basket went right up over the hood as we all could not get there in time. We worked it out so that his homeowners insurance paid for my damage. About 1000 bucks.

 

Let the insurance companies handle it. I tried to go through the route of letting them pay for themselves, and they ended up moving away shortly after hitting me and then the police couldnt even do much at that point.

 

In years past just handling it privately would be easy and fair. In today's world of cutthroat and the current "Me, me, me" state of most people I would suggest let the insurance companies deal with it. Sometimes underlying frame damage or most ANY cab damage(Depending of course on the severity of the accident) can not show up on initial inspection. If you agree to take the $$ from the person, and them later on find out there is more damage, you will be VERY hard pressed to EVER get that extra money. It is not worth the risk anymore, no matter how tempting it would be to save some of the $$ for mods and such.

 

The fact that they left the scene alone disqualifies letting them pay for it. Good that they returned but I still wouldn't trust them.

I had a fellow offer to pay me (it was clearly his fault) $50 for the damage he did backing into my car. Granted it was an old car but he bashed in the door so hard it wouldn't open anymore. Right..

 

Absolutely let the insurance companies deal with it. I have gone the route of private fix jobs and it's painful. You have a police report and hopefully noted that the other party left the scene. The fact that they left and didn't return until they new they were identified should be a clue on their integrity. There is nothing you will gain from going private. The only benefit will be to the other party and from their prior actions I wouldn't trust them.

 

Depends on the damage. If it's just a front or rear bumper and you can take the cash, replace the parts with better aftermarket parts and do all the repairs yourself, take the cash and be done with it (if he can get the cash quickly, if he can't, go through insurance). If it's other body damage that will require parts get painted, let insurance handle it.

 

Sadly no one is trustworthy. The guy has already flip flopped a few times, he is not worth the risk. Go with the insurance. Not all insurance companies report to CarFax, Its a private entity and not required by law. They have ZERO to gain by reporting to carfax.

 

I was the one 1 idiot who didn't read the thread opener and voted lol. If it was a CLOSE friend I would let them pay out of pocket to save their insurance on going up. If It was a hit and run type situation then dude felt bad and came back like you discribed I would definitely let insurance take care of my light weight.

 

^^^^This

^^^^And this.

Screw this guy. I wouldn't trust him any further than I could throw him. I hate people like that.

If you let the insurance companies handle it then it takes the risk out of your hands. His insurance (as has been stated) should give you "loss value" on your truck also.